Meet the Fellows

3rd Year Fellows

Maya Gagliardi-Lacharite, MD

Residency: Albany Medical Center

Medical School: St. George’s University

Research interests: ECMO

What I like about fellowship: I love all my co-fellows and attendings. I’ve already learned so much from everyone and can’t wait to continue learning. I also love the patient population and the pathology we see every day.

Richard Johnson, MD

Residency: SUNY Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital

Medical School: St. George’s University

Research interests: ICU delirium, Palliative care in the ICU, simulation in medical education.

What I like about fellowship: It’s hard to come to work and be bored in the ICU. Love the high acuity, patient population and amazing coworkers

Suresh Nathan, MD

Residency: Cohen Children’s Medical Center

Medical School: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Research interests: Neuroscience, device research and technological innovation in the picu

What I like about fellowship: I enjoy the exposure to the very high acuity here. It is rewarding to take care of the diverse patient population in Detroit. The fellows and faculty are very supportive here. Also, Detroit is an awesome city with a lot of cool places and fun activities.

2nd Year Fellows

Laaibah Ejaz, MBBS

Residency: SUNY Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital

Medical School: Aga Khan University

Research interest: Global health, Neurocritical care

What I like about fellowship: Getting to learn something new every single day while being surrounded by wonderful people who are committed to helping me achieve my potential.

Emily Kugel, MD

Residency: Lurie Children’s Hospital/Northwestern

Medical School: Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine

Research interests: Medical education

What I like about fellowship: How every day is different + getting to know co fellows, faculty, and unit staff

Julie Morin-Major, MD

Residency: Beaumont Children's Hospital

Medical School: Trinity School of Medicine

Research interests: PTSD

What I like about fellowship: Being able to help children and families during difficult times all while being surrounded by a great team of co-fellows and faculty.

1st Year Fellows

Kaila Lessner, MD

Residency: Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters

Medical School: Penn State College of Medicine

Research interest: Medical Education

What I like about fellowship: There is such a diverse patient population to learn from and the high volume/ high acuity on the unit keeps me busy! I have an amazing group of co-fellows, attendings, and the rest of the PICU team that make coming to work fun and enjoyable every day.

Devarshi Desai, DO

Residency:Nicklaus Children's Hospital

Medical School:Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine

Research interests:Sepsis, Education

What I like about fellowship: I enjoy being part of a team that includes both learners and teachers as well as being surrounded by supportive people that create a great environment for fellowship.

Katie Zuspan, DO

Residency:Baylor Pediatrics - Children's Hospital of San Antonio

Medical School:Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine

Research interests:Nutrition, Sepsis, Education

What I like about fellowship: I love learning in depth about physiology and pathophysiology and learning to apply that to make kids better. I love that we get constant cardiac ICU exposure because of our mixed unit which will give me more confidence in managing cardiac kids at the end of fellowship. My co-fellows and attendings have been amazing to work with and a lot of fun, especially when the first few months of fellowship can be hectic!

Past Fellows

Class of 2013

Monika Chauhan

First Position Post-Fellowship: Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI Category of position: Academic PICU

Keshava Gowda

First Position Post-Fellowship: Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH Category of position: Academic PICU

Class of 2014

Elizabeth Prentice

First Position Post-Fellowship: DeVos Children's Hospital, Grand Rapids, MI Category of position: Academic PICU

Special commendation: PICU Fellowship Director, DeVos

Elizabeth Rosner

First Position Post-Fellowship: DeVos Children's Hospital, Grand Rapids, MI Category of position: Academic PICU

Special commendation: PICU Division Chief, DeVos

Class of 2015

Vishwanath Gajula

First Position Post-Fellowship: Children's Hospital of Mississippi - Jackson, MS Category of position: Academic PICU

Special commendation: Director of Heart Center, CICU director

Saurabh Chiwane

First Position Post-Fellowship: Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI Category of position: Academic PICU

Robin McKinney

First Position Post-Fellowship: Hasbro Children's Hospital - Providence, RI Category of position: Academic PICU

Class of 2016

Gwendolen Nicole Sinclair

First Position Post-Fellowship: Covenant Health, Saginaw, MI Category of position: Private Practice PICU

Special commendation: Section Chief of Pediatrics, Covenant Health

Taemyn Hollis

First Position Post-Fellowship: University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI Category of position: CICU Fellowship

Class of 2017

Mario Colletti

First Position Post-Fellowship: St. Joseph's University, Paterson, NJ Category of position: Academic PICU

Rahul Raman

First Position Post-Fellowship: University of Iowa Children’s Hospital, Iowa City, IA Category of position: Academic PICU

Class of 2018

David Lankford

First Position Post-Fellowship: Lutheran Children's Hospital, Fort Wayne, IN Category of position: Private Practice PICU

Nina Laudato-Cortes

First Position Post-Fellowship: Methodist Children's Hospital, San Antonio, TX Category of position: Academic PICU

Special commendation: Medical Director of Transport

Yamini Kapileshwarkar

First Position Post-Fellowship: University of Illinois COM - Peoria, IL Category of position: Academic PICU

Special commendation: Neurocritical Care Fellowship, Seattle Children’s

Class of 2019

Raya Alshawi

First Position Post-Fellowship: University of Arkansas Children's Hospital Category of position: CICU Fellowship

Jui Shah

First Position Post-Fellowship: Loma Linda University Children's Hospital, CA Category of position: Academic PICU

Class of 2020

Ji-Yeon Kim

First Position Post-Fellowship: Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI Category of position: Academic PICU

Special commendation: Associate PD, PICU Fellowship

Amarilis Martin

First Position Post-Fellowship: Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI Category of position: Academic PICU

Class of 2021

Ahmed Aly

First Position Post-Fellowship: NYC Health King's County, Brooklyn, NY Category of position: Private Practice PICU

Jordan Schneider

First Position Post-Fellowship: Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX Category of position: CICU Fellowship

Yu-Shan Tseng

First Position Post-Fellowship: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign, IL Category of position: Academic PICU

Class of 2022

Mohammad Bilal Khan

First Position Post-Fellowship: Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI Category of position: Academic PICU

Yasir Ahmed

First Position Post-Fellowship: Gaafar Ibnauf Children's Hospital - Khartoum, Sudan Category of position: Academic PICU

Class of 2023

Nina Ma

First Position Post-Fellowship: Nationwide Children's Hospital - Toledo, OH Category of position: Private Practice PICU

Saad Feroz

First Position Post-Fellowship: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, PA Category of position: CICU Fellowship

Nicole Swaney

First Position Post-Fellowship: Sparrow Hospital, Lansing, MI Category of position: Private Practice PICU

Class of 2024

Hasina Mohammad Ashraf

First Position Post-Fellowship: El Paso Children’s/Texas Tech University, El Paso, TX Category of position: Academic PICU

Emily Schapka

First Position Post-Fellowship: Hurley Children’s Hospital, Flint, MI Category of position: Private Practice PICU